Meet Me Halfway (EDITING)

Chapter 20: Next on the List

"Jay, come on! How long does it take to get the bottle?" Nate barked from the river. A long beat passed. Jay scoffed, with the piece of paper glued to his fingers. He jogged casually over to the river, bobbing behind them. He looked over them, still mortified to his findings.

"What's wrong? You look pale," Sarah snickered, looking confused. They all stopped splashing around when they realised things were getting serious.

"Come on! Spit it out. We don't have all day," Nate spat, leaning over against the bank.

"Yeah, literally..." Vince added, then looking anxiously around at the other's faces when he realised it was legit. They actually didn't have all day to spend here at the river.

"Well...I found this," Jay looked mortified at the three of them, watching as their reactions changed when they saw Chuck's face crossed out.

"Wait, what is this?" Vince asked, pointing at the sheet as Nate snatched it from his hands. He fixed the frame of his glasses from a tilt, even more bewildered than he was before.

"I don't know! But it scares me." Jay dazed off to Nate, who muttered something quietly under his breath.

"Right. What is this supposed to mean?" He shook the paper in his hands, watching as it went left to right about four times. Sarah paused, bemused for the second that they didn't talk.

"Maybe someone here knows Chuck is dead." Sarah interrupted, rushing a sentence in the matter of three seconds straight. Her voice was so rapid that the boys almost couldn't figure out what she had said.

"Huh? You actually think... what, the kidnapper saw Chuck or something and is now following us? You have to be kidding me," Nate gruesomely spat, his anger pouring out from nowhere.

"It doesn't sound at all unreal. Come on, just think..." Vince agreed, glancing at Sarah as she continued his sentence.

"Exactly. If the kidnapper knew that he actually shot Chuck, he probably didn't run off very far. He probably watched us from behind a-and followed us for all we know." Sarah stuttered, shivering when mentioning the word 'shot'. Her hairs stood on end now, and all of their laughing and happy statuses differed. They dropped right down to the bottom.

"Yeah! So he probably planted that there, in hope for us to see it! Where did you find it, Jay?" Vince jumped out of the river, squeezing the excess water out from his pants when drying off. Nate followed, flicking his hair out of his way angrily. He was starting to get upset at how, in this case, the kidnapper was one step ahead of them.

"It was near that tree over there," he pointed, his heart skipping a beat when he realised everything seemed to be fitting into place and making a whole lot of sense.

"The one on the left, there?" Sarah pointed, reaching out from the river half panicking.

"No, that one over there! Come, I'll show you." Sarah followed the rest of the boys out from the river, squeezing her hair in a pony tail.

Jay walked over to the tree with the big rock, placing the picture of Chuck in between the tree and the rock for demonstration.

"I found it like this, just wedged there. Like I was meant to see it, you know?" Jay bobbed down, retrieving the photo back in his hand. He folded it slightly, crunching it in his palm and creating creases.

"Yeah, I do know...now," Sarah bobbed down beside him, dragging the rock away from the direction they were in.

"Don't you see? Chuck is the first one dead. His face has a cross on it, meaning that...maybe the kidnapper already planned on shooting him..." Sarah plumped back against the tree, resting her feet against the rock. Her face looked out into the vast openness, puzzled as she slowly figured things out.

"Hang on," Nate took a step back, realising it was all too hard for him to work out. He just couldn't put the pieces together.

"You think that Chuck was meant to die? Like, on purpose?"

"Well, yeah! Isn't it obvious to you now? The kidnapper must've been following us. He wanted to take Sarah back...and shot Chuck, only because Chuck was strong enough to defend everyone. He is probably going to do anything just to get Sarah back in that house!" Vince screeched, looking anxiously around himself.

"Ha! So you think the kidnapper is watching us right now?" Nate snorted toughly, pointing a dirty finger under Vince's nose. Everyone stopped.

"Oh my God. He is watching us right now." They all glanced in each other's eyes. Sarah's hand reached her mouth, covering it in awe. Their hearts all skipped at least two beats, making them unable to bare any glares.

Jay grabbed one of Sarah's hands, cupping it inside his palm. Without any restrictions, he curled it up inside as he balled his other fist. Her hand was warm and sweaty, making it ten times worse when combined with his. Their fingers entwined as he whispered, "do you guys think he's here for real?" They all huddled into a smaller circle, listening to the sound of Vince's whimpers echo in their ears.

"Possibly," Sarah whispered allegedly, half crying. She didn't want to be responsible for anything else. It was bad enough they had lost two people already.

All in the spur of the moment, something shuffled in the bushes on the other side of the river. Nate backed away from the huddle, looking in every direction a bird flew from above.

"Are you sure that just wasn't a bird or something?" Vince asked, humming slowly in hope to think it was a dream. Nate shook his head as wrinkles formed above his eyebrows.

"I think I can see something," he responded, although the others couldn't hear him quite clearly.

"Guys, come over here!" Nate leapt across the river, jumping across a boulder that was stuck in the centre. Water flowed around and on top of it, washing away the algae. They all leapt over the rock, following Nate's lead across the bushes. They bobbed down scarcely, looking like a random, colourful clump.

"What is it?" Nate looked back at them with another sheet in his hand. This time, it was a picture of Jay on it. Although, this time, Jay's face didn't have a cross on it. This time, it was circled in the thick, bloody red marker.

Below the photo, it read: 'Jay Kiperman, missing on 26th...' Once again the date was ripped off. Nate shook his head unbelievably. He opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again. He handed it over to Jay, unaware of what was about to happen.

"Jay, I think you need to look at this." Jay snatched the photo, flinching when he saw his face staring back at him. Half of Chuck's arm beside him had been included in the photo, obviously ripped from Chuck's sheet. Jay's scruffy brown hair sticking sideways in the photo. His smile was big, and his eyes were opened wide.

"Your last name is Kiperman? Jay Kiperman. That's new," Sarah squeaked, unaware that no one took it as a joke. She looked down at the ground awkwardly, forgetting that this was a life or death situation.

"Why is this circled?!" Jay spat, waiting for an answer that he couldn't get. He flipped the sheet in the air continuously. He ignored their figures and instantly stood up, replying to his own question. He pulled Chuck's sheet out, puzzling the two sheets together. They matched perfectly.

"Am I next or something? I-is he planning on killing me next? A-am I a target?" Jay questioned repeatedly, getting carried away. He was taken aback, and a few tears started to form in his eyes when he heated up. Steam was literally pouring out from his ears, and his vision started to blur instantly. A tear drop splattered over his face, smudging his inked description.

Their stomachs twisted and cramped up in a matter of minutes, and their heads gained headaches. They felt squirmy, dizzy and sick. They were too scared to move.

The others didn't say anything. They just stood there by his side, shoulder to shoulder in the circle they had formed. The sad thing was - they believed it. In fact, they believed that Jerry was watching them right then, at that second. And they believed that Jay was the next target and that they were all to be killed. One by one - until Jerry got what he was waiting for.